Early Life: 1856–1872

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born near the end of December 1865,
in Staunton, Virginia, to parents Joseph R. Wilson and Janet Woodrow
Wilson. Interestingly, the exact date of his birth is not known
for certain. When he was born, it was recorded in the family Bible
that he was born at "twelve and three- quarters o'clock" at night
on December 28. This was the date that Wilson himself used throughout
his life. Thomas Woodrow was the third child of four and grew up
with the nickname "Tommy", a name he eventually dropped after graduating
from college.

Tommy's father, Doctor Joseph Ruggles Wilson, was a prominent
Presbyterian clergyman and professor who hailed originally from
Ohio and was of Scotch-Irish descent. His mother Janet "Jessie"
Woodrow had a similar ancestry and was known for her beauty and
charm. The two had met in Ohio during Joseph's brief stay as a
teacher at a men's preparatory academy. After briefly working as
missionaries in Canada, and after Joseph had served as a teacher
and professor throughout the Midwest, they landed in Staunton,
where Dr. Wilson became the minister of the local Presbyterian
congregation in 1855. Throughout his life, Tommy looked on his
father with only the deepest respect and love.

The church played a significant role in Tommy's upbringing,
as the lessons he learned as the son of the prominent Presbyterian
minister remained with him for the rest of his life. In the South
during the mid 1800s, the Presbyterian church was among the wealthier Protestant
denominations; Doctor Wilson's church was no exception, with its
high ceiling, carpeting, and balconies for slaves. A good number
of the Presbyterian preachers condoned and even advocated the practice
of slavery, and many promoted the Southern lifestyle and social
stratification. Many of these same preachers were among Joseph
Wilson's closest and most trusted friends, and Tommy grew accustomed
to listening to their discussions on religion, economics, government,
and law.

Despite its stance on slavery, the rather conservative
Church preached a strong sense of Christian morality, and Tommy
learned to use these high standards as a lens to evaluate every
word spoken and every action taken. Consequently, as an adult he
viewed everything in terms of right and wrong, and more often than
not based his decisions on the righteousness of his options. This
trait was both an asset and a liability: it caused him to become
one of the greatest reformers and Progressives, but at the same
time eventually led to his downfall and nervous breakdown as President.

Shortly after Tommy's birth, the family moved again to
Augusta, Georgia, in 1858 where Joseph accepted the position as
minister of the local Presbyterian church. Tommy grew up much like
every other Georgian boy; though he wore spectacles at an early
age, he still managed to play baseball, hunt, and dance. A mischievous
boy, he got into his fair share of scrapes as well, occasionally
skipping school to plot and scheme and play with the other boys
in a local gang of young ruffians known as the Lighthouse Club.
Even though he spent all of his formative years in Augusta–from
shortly after birth until nearly his middle teenage years–Tommy
always prided himself on being born in Virginia. Throughout his
life he considered himself to be a Virginian, and as a young man
wanted nothing more than to enter politics and become a U.S. Senator
from what he considered to be the greatest state.

Growing up in Augusta, Tommy also witnessed the effects
of the Civil War on the South. His earliest memories of the war
were times when he was far too young to understand much of what
was going on. Legend has it that, while playing in his yard one
day, he heard a passerby announce in disgust that Abraham Lincoln
had been elected President. After the war ended in 1865, young Wilson
remembered watching Union guards marching Jefferson Davis through
town on his way to a prison. The entire South was hit hard by the
devastating battles, Yankee raiding parties, looting, property destruction,
poverty, and corrupt Northern government officials, not to mention
the scores of thousands of lives the South lost in the struggle.